Monday, December 28, 2009

From my little transistor in 1968 to Vokle in 2009

Pretty amazing Meet & Greet experiment yesterday.
Radio23.org* folks on Vokle* and Twitter* and who knows what else. I got to Speak & Spell* on video or chat with some of the other Radio23 broadcasters. All from my laptop while sitting in The Laurelthirst Public House* sipping a beer. Pretty amazing technology. I'm so impressed with Vokle and I'm really happy to be a part of this amazing experiment in global community radio.

Just now, I flashed to the summer of 1968*. My grandmother gave me a 'going on vacation' present; a white transistor radio*. White for girls-  White for girls, like the white Bibles they gave away at those Baptist church contests where they pump up the kids of the congregation to recruit their kid friends to come to church with them and the one who brings the most friends wins a Bible. The girls always got white ones and the boys got black ones. I was raised Catholic but my mom let me go when I got invited. I was happy for my friend who won - but the whole contest thing did kinda creep me out.

Anyhoo....my family was embarking on a road trip from Salem,Oregon*  to Baudette, MN. Lake Of The Woods, The Walleye Capitol Of The World.* 

I think it took 3 days and 2 nights to drive there. We slept in the car. Two adults and three kids. So my grandmother (probably my mom's idea, now that I think about it) gave me my very own radio - complete with earphone. When I wasn't reading Doctor Doolittle*, I was rockin-out while sketching Moose in my sketch book or writing in my diary. I distinctly remember listening to Janis Joplin*, who I LOVED! And my mom giving me one of those 'where did this child come from?' looks. I loved that radio! Just before we all piled into the car loaded with 3 days and 2 nights worth of food and games and coloring books, Bobby Kennedy was shot. It wasn't until we arrived in some middle of nowhere cafe in North Dakota that we got the news about Bobby. That was the first really sad breakfast of my life.

Fortythree years later, my fishing buddy Mike took me out to dinner at the Hawthorne Fish House* for my 50th birthday,we ate walleye and I recorded our dinner conversation. That could have been a sad dinner, but it wasn't.

Podcast of VoxPoppdx Episode Title: Right? Wrong.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/VoxPopPdx/~3/2YjCp8HQokM/Right_Wrong__920.mp3

http://radio23.org/
http://vokle.com/
http://twitter.com/VoxPoppdx
http://feeds.feedburner.com/VoxPopPdx


Speak & Spell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_&_Spell_%28toy%29

Laurelthirst Public House where I broadcast VoxPop pdx from my laptop on Radio23.org
http://mysite.verizon.net/res8u18i/laurelthirstpublichouse/

Salem, Oregon
http://www.enotes.com/ones-who
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is Ursula K. Le Guin's allegorical tale about a Utopian society in which Omelas' happiness is made possible by the sacrifice of one child for the sake of the group. In an allegory, many symbols and images are used in an attempt to illustrate universal truths about life.

Baudette, MN
http://www.lakeofthewoodsmn.com/.
see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wobegon

The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts (1920), written and illustrated by Hugh Lofting, is the first of his Doctor Dolittle books, a series of children's novels about a man who learns to talk to animals and becomes their champion around the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Doctor_Dolittle

Summer of 1969
Janis Joplin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvil2DPVcD8



Despite extensive neurosurgery at the Good Samaritan Hospital to remove the bullet and bone fragments from his brain, Kennedy died at 1:44 a.m. PDT on June 6, nearly 26 hours after the shooting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_assassination


The Hawthorne Fish House

We are proud to be the only restaurants on the West Coast serving lake perch and walleye, freshwater fish that perfectly lend themselves to frying.
http://www.corbettfishhouse.com/hawthornehome.html

Friday, December 25, 2009

I've Got The Park To Myself

Christmas Day
It is so beautiful, clear blue and sunny sky. A cold wind blowing. I'm looking at the swings at the park across the street from my house. A few solitary dog walkers but other than that, I've got the place to myself. I'm going to bundle up and go for a swing.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Testing Testing 123

Is this thing ON???

Vox Pop pdx
The XMAS Show : Mandatory Caroling?
http://tinyurl.com/ydwrroe